


He Is There With Her

by RosieIce



Category: Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Nobody Dies, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:47:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21919318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosieIce/pseuds/RosieIce
Summary: Alternative ending to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker that doesn’t have any unwanted deaths, doesn’t involve revival, yet has a happy ending.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey
Comments: 3
Kudos: 28





	He Is There With Her

**Author's Note:**

> Caution: don’t read past this part of you don’t want spoilers...
> 
> The story so far: Palpatine drains some life-force from the bond between Rey and Ben, causing them to collapse. Ben wakes first, but he is thrown down a ravine. Rey recovers next and victoriously defeats her grandfather thanks to the assistance of jedis from the past.  
> The most important change here: Rey **doesn’t** die. She simply passes out from exhaustion.  
> Now, for the story…

Rey wakes up. She takes a moment to sense her surroundings. From the sounds of it, the air battle continues. Reaching out with the force, she can tell Palpatine is gone, but so is Ben. This confuses her, so she opens her eyes and scans the area. No sign of Ben, but at least the crowd of Palpatine’s followers are no more. Rey reaches further with the force, trying to pinpoint Kylo’s location, but to no avail. 

She sits up, but her body screams in pain and exhaustion. Ignoring those thoughts, she forces herself to get up and search for Ben. After several minutes and no sign of him, she slows down and focuses on their bond.

Rey can sense him, but he is not responding. Relieved that he is alive, yet concerned that he seems to be blocking her, she turns her attention to the chaos overhead. She reluctantly returns to Luke’s old X-wing and makes the journey back to the Resistance base.

* * *

Finn, Poe, and Rey gather each other in a tight hug. Everyone is happy and relieved the other is alive and well. Now that the war is _finally_ over, it is time to go separate ways. Rey didn’t want to leave her friends, but Ben is alive somewhere and she has to find him. BB8 insisted on joining her, which Poe was somewhat okay with.

* * *

A short amount of time passed. Rey hadn’t found Ben Solo yet. While she continued her search for her equal, Rey constructed her own lightsaber. One of the ancient Jedi texts included detailed instructions on how to make one. 

Rey decided that she could take a break from her search and make the time to pay her respects to those who have passed. With the twins’ sabers in hand, she lands the Falcon and walks out to the old home of the Lars family on Tatooine. Rey looks down at what was once the home of a young Luke Skywalker; she can’t help but smile.

She looks around, finds a random part she fashions into a makeshift sled, and takes a small joy in sliding down a slope of sand into the heart of the retired moisture farm. She gets up and looks around. Suddenly, she senses another presence very close-by. Inside one of the rooms, a figure steps out from the shadows. A tired, but very much alive Ben Solo reveals himself. And grins.

* * *

After an intense reunion that may or may not have included a slap for not responding to their bond followed by a kiss that spoke more than words, Ben explains himself. He was thrown into the ravine and landed on a ledge, unconscious. By the time he awoke and forced himself to climb out, Rey and Palpatine were gone and the war seemingly over. It took so long to return to his ship with his injuries, but all he cared about was Rey’s safety. Apparently, he _did_ try to reach out to her, but Rey hadn’t sensed it. Luckily, he sensed her enough to figure out where she would eventually be. 

Rey didn’t care how he came to be here. What she did care about is Ben Solo, her equal, was alive and here with her. They hugged until both lost track of time.

* * *

They carefully fold the cloth over the two lightsabers and use the force to bury the twins’ sabers deep beneath the sand near the home. Ben settles an arm around Rey as she activates her saber, ready for the future. 

A creature makes a sound. Rey looks up at the same time as Ben towards the source and see an old native. The ancient woman mentions how nobody had been at the Lars household for years. Then the old lady asks who they are.

Ben replies “Ben Solo”. He looks to Rey, notices her gaze is on something out in the distance, and looks in the same direction. There, smiling, were his mother and uncle. Rey then replies, “I’m Rey Skywalker.”

The man who was once Kylo Ren allows himself to feel a tad confused with her choice of name, but will not argue with his equal. He loves her too much. No matter what, he will be there with her.

**Author's Note:**

> I chose to have Rey keep the Skywalker name because that was her choice. She went with the family she CHOSE, not the family she is related by blood (I know what that is like all too well). Also, since she is not a Skywalker by blood, that does NOT make her and Ben related (unless you believe that Palpatine’s DNA got mixed into Anakin somehow, which I will respect, but not agree with), so they can be in a relationship.


End file.
